Boys With Tattoos

Donna.

A couple days have passed and I can tell Courtney is miserable. We haven't seen the guys since that night, because we didn't really want to push our luck with Suzy. Courtney seems really detached and I don't know why. I wish she would talk to me, but she only talks when she absolutely needs to, so I guess she must be doing okay. Right now, it's two in the afternoon on Monday. Courtney and I are just lounging around on the couch watching some kid TV show, because there was nothing else on. Courtney's phone went off, signaling she had a text message and I figured it was her Dad. He seemed to be checking up on her a lot in the past couple of days. I just wonder if something happened. Once I seen her smiling at her phone, I knew that it was Matt. He's seriously the only one that can get her to smile now. I just hope she actually lets him in and gets to know him.

"Matt wants us to hang out with him? You down?" She asked, raising her gaze from her phone to meet mine.

I started to think about it and I really wanted her to just spend time with him, so I shook my head, "Nah, you go. My stomach is starting to act up." I rubbed my stomach for emphasis.

She frowned, "I don't want to go without you.."

"Courtney, just go. Besides, you can get to know Matt better." I said, while smiling.

That made her sigh, "Alright, I won't be out too long. Suzy isn't suppose to be home until like nine, so I'll make sure I'm home before then."

I smiled, "Good, now go. Have fun and be safe." I winked at her.

She gave me the finger while walking out of the house. I laughed to myself and got comfortable on the couch. I decided that I was going to take a good, long nap. Just as I was about to close my eyes, my phone started ringing. I groaned, heavily and looked at the ID. Mom.

I clicked accept, "Hey Mom."

"Hey Peach, how's Cali going?" She asked, using my same old nick name I've had since I was little.

"It's good." I replied.

"Well that's good. Court not talking to her mom still after that episode?" She asked, making me very confused.

I started to frown, "What episode?"

"You know, the one a couple days ago. When she got in a fight with Suzy and called Tom crying her eyes out." She said, like I should of known already.

That made me shake my head, "No, I know nothing about this. What the fuck? Why didn't tell me?" I asked, starting to get mad.

My mom scoffed, "Donna, give her a break, she probably didn't want to talk about it."

I sighed, "Alright, alright. What happened, though?"

She explained to me that Suzy talked to Courtney about why she left and I guess Suzy was trying to put the blame on Tom, but Courtney wasn't going to have any of that. She got really upset and called Tom crying, saying she wanted to come home. He calmed her down and talked to Suzy about it.

"Whoa, so Tom told you this?" I asked, curiously.

"Yeah, you know Tom, he tells me every thing that happens. Poor guy is beating himself up from agreeing to let you guys go out there." She said, feeling sorry for him.

I just sat there, still kind of upset that Courtney didn't tell me any of this, "Well Courtney needed to meet her Mom some time." I said.

My Mom agreed, "I know. My break is about to end, so call me later or something. I like to hear from you, ya' know?"

That made me roll my eyes, "I know, Mom. I just get distracted sometimes, I'm sorry."

"Alright, just don't forget about me. I love you sweetie."

Again, I rolled my eyes, "I won't and I love you too."

We both hung up and I started to feel even more bad for Courtney. That's why she's been feeling so down. I just hope she can actually make it through the summer. I went to put my phone on the end table beside the couch, but it vibrated. I sighed. Is it really that hard to take a nap? I opened the text message that I received and it was from Brian.

Courtney says ur at home with a stomach ache? :( Is that true? Or did you just not wanna come?

I frowned. I didn't know Brian was going to be there. I typed out a reply real fast.

I didn't know u were going to be there. Court said that it was just Matt, so I didn't want to be a third wheel.

I sent the reply and waited for his response.

I told Matt not to say anything, I was going to surprise u, but I guess I failed at that. -_- Do u want me to come pick u up and me and u can just hang out?

That made me feel really bad.

Aww, I'm sorry, I didn't know. :( and sure, as long as you don't tell Courtney. I don't want her to know that I lied.

It's okay and ur secret is safe with me! (: Text me ur address and I'll pick u up.

Just as I was about to type out the numbers, I remembered the whole thing with Suzy not liking the guys. Even though she wasn't here, I didn't want to risk it.

Just meet me at the corner again.

Ok, Im going to tell Matt and Courtney that my Dad wants me home. I'll be there in like 4 mins.

Okay, see you there. (:

I shut the TV off and went into the bathroom to make sure my hair was all good. When I didn't see any stray hairs, I headed to the corner. I waited and started to mess around on my phone, until Brian got here. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a black Ford Taurus pulling up beside me. I turned my head to get a better look, once I spotted Brian in the driver's seat, I smiled. I got in the car and shut the door, "Nice car."

That made him laugh, "This car is a piece of shit, but it gets me around, so I don't care."

I shrugged in response, it didn't look so bad to me.

He started driving down the street and glanced at me, "Where do you want to go?"

"Beats me. Where is Matt and Courtney?" I asked.

Brian stopped at a stop sign and turned right down another street, "The park."

I shrugged, "Well, I don't care where, as long as it's not at the park."

He took his right hand off the steering wheel to scratch his face, "We could just sit in a parking lot and talk if you want?"

That seemed like a good idea, "Sure, that's sounds good."

Brian smiled, "Parking lot it is then. You can put the radio on." He informed me, so I did. I turned the dial probably a hundred times, trying to find a good song. I stopped when I heard a song that Courtney and I would always make fun of, which was Against the Wind by Bob Seger.

I started to chuckle a little and Brian caught it, "What's so funny? Bob Seger is awesome!"

"Yeah he is, but Courtney and make fun of this song because of how many times he says 'Against the wind'. Like we get it, you're running against the wind." I explained to him.

He seemed to think it was pretty funny too, "Wow, never really realized how many times he said it. It's kind of annoying."

Brian pulled into a parking lot that was for a Super Market and parked in a space, crookedly. That started to bug me, "You're crooked."

He looked at me and smiled a little bit, "So?"

"It's bugging me." I pointed out.

Brian laughed and shrugged, "Get over it, I like to play on the wild side."

That made me roll my eyes, "Ooh parking crooked is really wild, someone call the police."

He snorted, "The police know me by name that's how bad I am."

I put my hands in the air, "Can you please just fix yourself? It's going to bug me the whole time we're here." I then crossed my arms over my chest.

Brian scoffed, "What do you have OCD?"

"Yeah, actually I do." I said, turning my head to see his reaction.

He didn't show any reaction, really, but he tossed the car in reverse and fixed himself in the lines, so that he was straight. Once he put it back in park, he looked at me with a goofy grin on his face, "Better?"

It made me laugh, "Yeah, thanks."

Brian leaned his seat back all the way, so he was laying down. I decided to do the same, since I was after all going to take a nap before I got a message from him. He put his hands behind his head, "So, Donna, tell me about yourself."

I copied his actions, "So, Brian, tell me about yourself."

He shrugged, "I asked you first."

"What do you want to know?" I asked, not sure what I could even tell him.

Brian was looking up at the ceiling of his car, "How old are you?"

"16, I'll be 17 in August, what about you?" I reversed to question to him.

He turned his head to the side, so he could stare at me, "Don't freak out."

I frowned and then added a chuckle, "Why would I freak out?"

Brian got a serious look on his face, "I'm 22."

My eyes widened, "What?! How? There's no way!"

He started laughing, "Oh, god. You should of seen your face!"

I rolled my eyes and punched his shoulder, "That's not funny. I actually thought you were serious!"

Brian shrugged, "I passed for that age all the time. I can buy alchol and not get carded."

"So how old are you really?" I changed the subject back to age.

He looked back up at the ceiling, "I'm 16, I turn 17 in July."

"Damn, you're really mature for your age." I commented.

Brian chuckled and started pick at the pieces of string that were hanging from his ceiling, "Tell my Dad that."

I decided it was my turn to ask a question, "How many girlfriends have you had?" Even though it was kind of personal, I was curious.

He made a thinking face and said, "Four."

I scratched my forehead, "Wow, I've only had two."

Brian turned to look at me, "It's not like me having more is better. I wish I had none. All four of the girls were just complete bitches. I honestly don't know why I even went out with them."

That me nod, "Oh, I know the feeling. My first boyfriend was an ass face, I don't know what I saw in him."

He laughed, while grinning, "Ass face? I like it."

I smiled and shrugged innocently, "What? I like making creative names for people. It's like my thing."

That made Brian smile crookedly at me, "I'll keep that in mind." His smile faded away and he got serious, "So what about your last boyfriend? What happened with him?"

"He moved to New York, I honestly thought long distance would be okay, you know? People make it work all the time, but it just got to the point where we were so busy all the time, we stopped calling each other, so I ended it." I said, still feeling the pain in my chest.

Brian moved his attention back to the ceiling, "When did you end it?"

I took a second to think about it, "In January, I don't remember the day."

He nodded his head, like he was processing it all in. I took that time to ask him another question, "What kind of childhood did you have growing up?"

Brian rubbed his hand over his face and sighed, "Well, it wasn't great, that's for sure. I always had to deal with my parents yelling all the time. It's was always my Mom's fault, she would always bitch at my Dad for the stupidest things. Finally he got so fed up with her, he divorced her when I was 9. I lived with my Mom until I was 13. We always got in fights, she would always say that Jimmy was a bad influence on me, which he pretty much was, but I didn't care. She hated that I would always play my guitar in the house and bitched at my Dad for teaching me how to play. I begged my Dad for years to let me live with him and he finally let me. Everything since then has been pretty good. I only see my Mom twice a month, which too much if you ask me."

That shocked me, "Wow, I would of never guessed that about you."

"I try to keep everything bottled inside. I don't like boring people with my fucked up life." He said while readjusting himself on the seat.

I frowned at him, "You didn't bore me."

He gave me a half smile, "That's good to hear, now tell me about your childhood. It's got to be more interesting than mine."

"Well, I wouldn't say I had the best childhood, but it was as good as it would be. My Dad is an alcoholic and he would always get in fights with my Mom. My Mom kicked him out when I was 6, saying that it was us or the beer and he chose the beer. I just remember crying my eyes out asking him why he had to leave. I didn't understand anything at the age. As I got older, I realized he was an asshole. I started to hate him. My Mom did the best she could as a single mom. She would always have me stay at Courtney's house when she had to work late. Courtney's Dad filled the father figure in my life and I couldn't be more happier about that. My Dad lives somewhere in Ohio right now and drops by my house when he needs money. He tries to play it off saying he wants to see me, but then asks my Mom for money when he goes to leave." I explained and looked at him for a reaction.

His eyebrows furrowed up, "Hmm, I guess we're pretty much tied for childhoods."

I chuckled, while looking in his dark brown eyes, "I didn't know we were competing."

We spent the next couple of hours talking about the most random things. Like how we want to die, what are dream job was, what zoo animal would we want as a pet, if we were a rapper what our rap name would be. Time literally flew by and I looked at my phone to see it was going on 7pm. I wanted to get home before Courtney did.

"Wanna drive me back to the corner?" I asked.

He raised his seat up, so he was in a sitting position, "Damn, I didn't realize how late it was. Oh shit, I almost forgot. Open the glove box, there's a present in there for you."

I smiled and opened the glove box, getting excited. I spotted a pack of Newports that haven't even been opened. I smiled, "You got me a pack of cigarettes?" I asked in Aw.

He started the car back up and turned to me, "Yeah, I figured you needed a pack since no one is here to buy them for you."

I leaned over and gave him a hug, "Thank you, Brian! That was really sweet of you. I'm glad you remembered which brand I liked too."

Brian rubbing my back, "You're welcome!"

I let go of him and started packing them. We both had a cigarette before he started to drive back to the corner. We got to the corner too soon for my liking. I didn't want to leave. I wanted to keep talking about stupid stuff and our lives. Brian seemed to be feeling the same way, "We should do this again tomorrow or something."

"We should, I'm sure Courtney will want to hang out with Matt again." I pointed out.

Brian started to think, "Why don't we go to the beach? I'll get the others to go too. Would you want to do that?"

I smiled, "Yeah, I'm down."

He grinned, showing off his perfect smile, "Great, I can pick you guys up if you want?" Brian offered.

"Yeah just meet us at the corner, that way it's easier on you." I said, hoping it was easier on him.

Brian nodded, "Alright, that's fine. I'll text you the time later."

I bit my lip, kind of wanting to give him a goodbye hug, but I didn't want to do it without him wanting to. I decided to just leave, so I opened the door, "I had a fun time, I'll see you tomorrow then." I said, glancing back at him.

His face was once again hard to read, "Me too and I can't wait." He managed to smile.

I put my right foot out of the door, ready to get out, when Brian grabbed my hand. My heart started to beat faster as I turned my head to see that he was just an inch away from my face. I watched him look down at my mouth and back at my eyes. I was really hoping that he'd kiss me, but instead he pulled me into another hug, which I was okay with. He held me for a little bit longer than our last hug and I wasn't complaining. Once we separated, he kissed my cheek, "See you tomorrow."

A blush formed on my cheeks as I smiled it off, "Tomorrow."

I got out of the car and watched him drive away. I started the walk back to Suzy's house and let myself think. I was really starting to fall for Brian. There's just something about him that makes me feel amazing. I can be myself around him, and he doesn't judge. I can talk to him about anything and he can some how relate. If there is a such thing as a 'perfect' guy, Brian definitely was it.